Curd based delicious foods like mishit doi, boondi raita and lassi

Milk and milk products have a good balance of protein, fat and carbohydrate and are a very important source of essential nutrients. In some places, milk is taken in the raw and children hate the very thought of gulping it down. They need to be coaxed into drinking it and for this, the parents resort to various tactics. These include use of additives like chocolate. In order to do this effectively, ad agencies come into the picture and introduce children who boast about various after effects like become taller, stronger and more energetic than others. When it comes to elders in the family, milk and milk products take a different shape. Very few of them drink milk in the original form unless they fall sick and the doctor prescribes something like a ‘glass of warm milk’ at bedtime. Yogurt (or dahi or mishti doi) is an important byproduct of milk and it lends itself easily to a number of tasty food items. 11 Things You Can Make With Yogurt. Raita and lassi are easy to prepare and very popular.

Raita is usually a side dish and ingredients can vary. Ingredients for a vegetable raita are usually finely chopped tomatoes, cucumbers, onion and chili. These are mixed in the bowl of curd with salt and sugar to create a heavenly taste. The combination is served in small containers for consumption on as required basis. Their addition to normal dishes helps to improve the overall taste. Another raita is of boondi. These are small roundals made of a mixture of besan (powdered chana dal) and water to make a batter. This batter is then passed through a sieve so that drops fall into hot oil and get fried. These end up as crisp roundals that are slightly larger in size than homeopathic globules. The process of making raita with this boondi is simple. Take a bowl of beaten curd along with additives like chopped green chili, coriander leaves, salt, powdered black pepper and a pinch of sugar. Once the mixture is ready, add a fistful of boondi and stir them to create a dish fit for the King. Some add pink pomegranate seeds to make the raita more colorful.

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Dhokla - the lovely fluffy besan product

Apart from boondi and sweets made out of boondi, besan is used to make many other eatables to soothe the Indian palate – and, one of these is the fluffy dhokla. Once restricted to Gujarat, it is now common fare all over the country and, like snacks like idli, dosa, uthappam of the south, dhokla has won over Indians in all corners.
Dhokla is a sort of snack unique to Gujarat and its lightness is a matter of mystery – when laid out on display in the shops with a sprinkling of chopped coriander leaves and a splattering of mustard seeds it beckons with its fluffy yellow color and porosity.

It is not too difficult to prepare and it involves mixing besan with yoghurt in proper proportions with addition of water and a pinch of salt. The mixture is to be kept for sufficient time (3 to 4 hours) in order to allow the fermentation to take place. Once that is done, a bit of turmeric is added to bring the yellow color and the mixture is ready to be cooked. Some would add green chili and ginger paste to bring in a different taste apart from lemon juice, sodium bicarbonate and a tiny bit of oil.
Now comes the cooking part. Put the mixture in a greased container and then in the steamer – dhokla has to be steam cooked. This should not take more than ten minutes. Then cut it into suitable size fluffy cubes and allow it to cool.
The last step is the garnishing with coriander leaves, ground coconut and whole mustard seeds. The mustard seeds are put in a kadai of boiling oil and as it starts to splutter, pour it over the dhokla and finish off with the white and green garnishing of coriander leaves and grated coconut. (to be continued …)
(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)


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